As of December 1, 2003 Horiba, Ltd. will completely dispose of its former conventional filing system of drawings, and establish a system that uses electronically formatted plans only.

Horiba was founded as a manufacturer of analyzing instruments that would contribute to saving the world’s environment. By putting into effect this information system, which Horiba has been investing in over the past 10 years, it plans to pursue full-scale introduction of electronic formatting, which will lead both to enhancement of productivity and promotion of resource-saving and environmental-protection measures.

With the completion of the scanning into electronic format of the drawings in its collection, it becomes possible to store hand-written drawings from the nearly 30 years prior to the introduction of computer-aided design (CAD) on a semi-permanent basis. Since this eliminates the necessity to make paper copies of drawings, it will lead to a saving of paper resources equivalent to 350,000 pages of A4 size paper (about 1.5 tons) annually.

Horiba will also use digitization to put a system into effect that enables electronic procurement and the electronic delivery of plans among clients and other companies in the Horiba Group. The year 2003 marks the 50th year since Horiba’s founding, and the announcement that it is now a business that will rely exclusively on electronic drawings shows that the company is determined to continue putting its energies into the introduction of information systems on a global scale as well as the improvement and expansion of policies to save the world’s resources and environment in the 50 years to come.

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